NHL Offseason Thread

[treble]

And while it won't effect my enjoyment of HNIC in any way, it's beyond surreal that the theme will now be on TSN....and possibly even on ESPN, for that matter.

 

Continuing on with anecdotes about my brother's dislike for Nickelback, I once joked that "Saturday Night's Alright" had actually overtaken the theme as CBC began their Saturday broadcasts. He believed me, and went apeshit.

I figured they would do it, but man, are they going to be obnoxious about it. Biggest news in sports, according to them, yesterday.

[Red Baron]

Trevor Linden is expected to retire tomorrow. Is he HOF worthy?

[bob_barron]

Trevor Linden is expected to retire tomorrow. Is he HOF worthy?

 

Not a chance.

[Red Baron]

Figured so.

 

 

Anyways, Babcock got a nice three year extention to reign supreme with the Red Wings.

[the max]

http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID...069/1048/sports

 

Sharks hire Red Wings assistant McLellan as head coach.

[treble]

So, Cliff Fletcher is going to stay on for another year as Leaf GM. This is such a farce. I understand that Anaheim wants Burke to finish his contract, but having him for a year when he's just going to be a lame duck (har har) is dumb, especially when you could probably wrangle some compensation out of Toronto (although, they'd probably have to be draft picks).

 

I know this is going to sound like some entitled Leafs fan getting mad that something didn't go their way, but it's just dumb on both sides.

[CanadianChris]

I called that the minute Wilson was announced as head coach. It made absolutely no sense that they'd hire the coach first unless Fletcher was staying on.

[Zetterberg is God]

Surprised Nabokov didn't win the Vezina but everything else went as it should. I saw that John Madden got more votes for the Selke than Zetterberg which is also a little surprising to me.

[CanadianChris]

Craig Hartsburg is the new head coach in Ottawa:

 

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=240543&amp...s=topStory_main

 

Not sure how I feel about this move. He's a fine junior coach, but I've never thought he was terrific at the pro level, although that may have been a function of the teams he had. At least he has some NHL experience, unlike Peter DeBoer, who was rumoured for the job early this week.

 

I don't know. We'll see.

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski]

Hartsburg was probably 3rd best coach of the Mighty Duck days. He;ll do alright with all the talent they have up in Ottawa.

[Guest Epic Narcissism]

Trevor Linden is expected to retire tomorrow. Is he HOF worthy?

 

Not a chance.

Hawerchuk and LaFontaine are in the HOF. Canadians are inclusive; they'll let anyone in.

[JJ Johnson]

Trevor Linden is expected to retire tomorrow. Is he HOF worthy?

 

Not a chance.

Hawerchuk and LaFontaine are in the HOF. Canadians are inclusive; they'll let anyone in.

 

Not to nitpick, but Hawerchuk scored 1400 points, and LaFontaine also played at an elite level when healthy. What you said is basically equivalent to "Thurman Thomas and Franco Harris are in the Hall of Fame, so they practically have to let Warrick Dunn in!" when the truth is that Linden just doesn't measure up to either of your examples.

[Guest Epic Narcissism]

I always hear Hawerchuk and LaFontaine cited as the most borderline inductees of recent years. Sorry. I'm not very good at knowing things.

[JJ Johnson]

I can see LaFontaine being kind of borderline, but Hawerchuk? A pox on your sources!

[the max]

http://blog.dispatch.com/cbj/2008/06/more_buggsy.shtml

 

Pens offer Hossa 7/50.

 

[Red Baron]

http://blog.dispatch.com/cbj/2008/06/more_buggsy.shtml

 

Pens offer Hossa 7/50.

 

 

 

And Pittsburgh will be last in two years time.

[Red Baron]

Craig Hartsburg is the new head coach in Ottawa:

 

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=240543&amp...s=topStory_main

 

Not sure how I feel about this move. He's a fine junior coach, but I've never thought he was terrific at the pro level, although that may have been a function of the teams he had. At least he has some NHL experience, unlike Peter DeBoer, who was rumoured for the job early this week.

 

I don't know. We'll see.

 

 

DeBoer took the job in Florida.

 

 

Other than the Vezina, it was a very predictable event.

[the max]

http://blog.dispatch.com/cbj/2008/06/more_buggsy.shtml

 

Pens offer Hossa 7/50.

 

 

 

And Pittsburgh will be last in two years time.

 

It'll be interesting to see how they handle it. If they sign Hossa, Malone and probably Staal are gone and it would give them a modified Tampa Bay style of having three highly paid players (Lecavalier, Richards, St. Louis v. Crosby, Malkin, Hossa). The only difference would be if Pittsburgh signs Fleury. That's what made Tampa struggle; Tampa never had the quality goaltending.

[CanadianGuitarist]

Craig Hartsburg is the new head coach in Ottawa:

 

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=240543&amp...s=topStory_main

 

Not sure how I feel about this move. He's a fine junior coach, but I've never thought he was terrific at the pro level, although that may have been a function of the teams he had. At least he has some NHL experience, unlike Peter DeBoer, who was rumoured for the job early this week.

 

I don't know. We'll see.

 

I was gonna ask about that, actually. Who is Peter DeBoer?

 

And I thought the same thing: Hartsburg's junior and world success supereceded his so-so NHL record.

[CanadianGuitarist]

http://blog.dispatch.com/cbj/2008/06/more_buggsy.shtml

 

Pens offer Hossa 7/50.

 

 

 

And Pittsburgh will be last in two years time.

 

It'll be interesting to see how they handle it. If they sign Hossa, Malone and probably Staal are gone and it would give them a modified Tampa Bay style of having three highly paid players (Lecavalier, Richards, St. Louis v. Crosby, Malkin, Hossa). The only difference would be if Pittsburgh signs Fleury. That's what made Tampa struggle; Tampa never had the quality goaltending.

 

 

Really? I certainly never thought of Khabibulin as a superstar, but he always seemed like a solid #1 to me. I remember saying earlier in this season that if it were 2003, Chicago might have the league's best 1-2 punch in net.

[the max]

http://blog.dispatch.com/cbj/2008/06/more_buggsy.shtml

 

Pens offer Hossa 7/50.

 

 

 

And Pittsburgh will be last in two years time.

 

It'll be interesting to see how they handle it. If they sign Hossa, Malone and probably Staal are gone and it would give them a modified Tampa Bay style of having three highly paid players (Lecavalier, Richards, St. Louis v. Crosby, Malkin, Hossa). The only difference would be if Pittsburgh signs Fleury. That's what made Tampa struggle; Tampa never had the quality goaltending.

 

 

Really? I certainly never thought of Khabibulin as a superstar, but he always seemed like a solid #1 to me. I remember saying earlier in this season that if it were 2003, Chicago might have the league's best 1-2 punch in net.

 

Khabibulin was gone before they signed Richards and St. Louis to their contracts.

[the max]

http://www.boston.com/sports/hockey/bruins...ign_up_wheeler/

 

Bruins will sign Blake Wheeler on July 1. While he's only likely going to be a WannaB, it's refreshing to see a player choose Boston.

 

Wheeler's story is that he was drafted 5th overall in 2004 by Phoenix but would not sign with them. He goes 6'4"/220 and has good speed for someone his size. He projects as a power forward. The idea of a Lucic-Kessel-Wheeler line within the next few years makes me love hockey more. Again, Wheeler's a prospect but the idea of getting someone of his skill level to choose Boston over other teams is great.

[nl5xsk1]

re: Hossa ... At least re-signing with Pittsburgh would keep him away from Montreal, which has been rumored as his landing spot much as (if not more than) Pittsburgh or Boston. The bad news, though, is that it means that Chia might go overboard in a bidding war to land him, and I wouldn't be thrilled at signing him for $8m (or more) per season).

 

re: Wheeler ... I just want to echo what Max said, it feels good to see a player with options choose Boston as a destination. Seeing him and Lucic on the ice at the same time? It might be enough to make Bostonians care about hockey again.

[CanadianGuitarist]

I don't want Hossa anywhere near a Habs uniform......but I once said the same about Kovalev; on the other hand, I said it about Samsonov. We'll see.

 

 

 

Igor Larianov is to be inducted into the Hall this year. His counterpart will re-open the 'who's the best player not in' debate. Yes, finally, Glenn Anderson.

[Zetterberg is God]

Prospal going back to Tampa Bay

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski]

Prospal going back to Tampa Bay

That seems to happen a lot.

[CanadianChris]

That's so funny. Prospal's now been traded five times, plus left once as a free agent, and yet he's only ever played for four different teams.

[Annabelle]

rumor:

 

evgeni malkin for mike cammaleri & the second overall pick

 

and people are talking about it.

 

no way pittsburgh is that dumb.

 

but its out there.

[Red Baron]

It makes sense as you can draft Doughty or Pieterlangelo for defence and in the situation Pittsburgh is in, it is a very logical move.

[The Ghost of bps21]

It would solve my headscratching question of how exactly Pittsburgh was going to be able to pay Crosby, Hossa, Malkin AND field a pro hockey team. That system of paying a lot to a handful hasn't worked out for Tampa lately...and they play in a shitty division.

 

I've been wondering if someone would offer Malkin a huge offer sheet this offseason (he is a Restricted FA now right?) but this would work too. I don't believe Malkin is long for Pittsburgh since he's gonna want Ovechkin like money...